Omega Directive
The Omega Directive is a classified Federation Starfleet general order that was enacted in 2270, and requires the commanding officer of a starship to immediately inform Starfleet Command if an Omega molecule has been detected. The Directives supersedes all other standing orders and general directives, including the Prime Directive, and dictates that once the molecule has been detected the primary goal is to locate and destroy the molecule by any means possible. Due to the highly sensitive nature of the directive, information regarding its existence is on a strictly need-to-know basis for captains and above. Normally a specially trained Omega team is called in to deal with any situations involving the particle; if this team is not available, the Captain is authorized to deal with the situation by any means they deem necessary. ( ) Background to the Directive In the early 2260s, Dr. Bendes Kettaract, a human scientist, began performing research into the creation and application of omega molecules. By 2268, Kettaract had gained the support of Section 31 and was ready to begin active experiments to create omega molecules, and he arranged for him and his research team to be taken to a covert research station located in the Lantaru sector. By the end of the year, Kettaract had managed to synthesize two omega molecules, however once they were synthesized they became unstable and generated a massive subspace shockwave. Thanks to the last minute efforts by the crew of the the destructive energy was absorbed by the station's cloaking device, but the shockwave was still able to seriously damage subspace and prevent the use of warp drive in the sector, and cut off two Federation colonies from support. Captain James T. Kirk recommended that a directive needed to be created to look out for these particles and prevent similar destruction from occurring again. (TOS novel: Cloak) Enactments of the Directive The order has only been enacted a few times since its creation, the first incident occuring in the Delta Quadrant in 2374. The detected the molecule and Captain Kathryn Janeway set out to destroy the molecule. However, due to the unusual situation of Voyager being alone, Captain Janeway took it upon herself to inform the rest of her senior staff so that they could assist her in destroying the molecule. ( ) In 2376, the Borg Collective were able to stabilize an Omega molecule and were using it as a power source which could highten their destructive power and mean destruction for the rest of the galaxy. After safely deflecting the third invasion of Sector 001, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the led a large Federation Alliance into the heart of the collective and mounted an assault on the storage facility. The assault was successful and all allied ships managed to escape before subspace was severely damaged. (TNG video game: Armada) In 2390, detected the molecules while searching for Vice Admiral Kira, the crew was able to destroy the molecules and escape with Admiral's Kira shuttle. ( ) In 2409, after the activation of an Iconian gateway near Jouret IV, the began scanning the gateway, only for everything within the ship to activate the Directive after discovering the existence of a molecule, leading to the creation of the Dyson Alliance between the Federation, the KDF and the Romulan Republic. (STO mission: "Sphere of Influence") Protocol Starfleet enacted the Omega Directive in response to the Lantaru incident, also naming it after the last letter in the Greek alphabet, chosen to signify the molecule as the ultimate threat not only to the Federation, but to every spacefaring civilization in the entire galaxy. If a starship were to detect an Omega molecule, the following procedure would occur: *The ship's computer would disengage the engines immediately and lock out all computer access, displaying the Greek letter "omega" on every bridge console. Only the captain would be able to disable the lockout. *In the privacy of his or her ready room or other secured area, with the doors locked, he or she would give the computer the proper high-level security authorization code to access the sensor data. *The computer would brief the captain regarding the detection of Omega molecules, and then give instructions to implement the Omega Directive immediately – disregarding all other priorities, including the Prime Directive. *The captain, absolutely forbidden from discussing anything about what was happening with any member of his/her crew, would contact Starfleet Command and inform them of the situation. Starfleet Command would then dispatch a specialized team authorized to use whatever means necessary to destroy the molecules. Category:Legal documents